Category: Zhouqin Burnikel

Bill’s time: 17m 03s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 [Chef’s kiss] : [MWAH!]

A chef’s kiss is a gesture used by a chef to indicate that a dish has achieved perfection. The gesture involves kissing the tips of the gathered fingers.

9 Some ballpark figures : RBIS

Runs batted in (RBIs)

13 Burgundy specialty : PINOT NOIR

The pinot noir wine grape variety takes its name from the French for “pine” and “black”. The grapes grow in tight clusters shaped like pine cones, and are very dark in color. The pinot noir grape is most closely associated with Burgundy wines in France, although in recent years the popularity (and price) of California pinot noir wine has soared after it featured so prominently in the wonderful 2004 movie “Sideways”. Grab a bottle of pinot, and go rent the movie …

The Burgundy region of France is famous for its wine production. If you’re looking at a label that isn’t translated into English though, you’ll see “Burgundy” written in French, namely “Bourgogne”.

17 Onetime home of the world’s largest pineapple plantation : LANAI

Lanai is the sixth largest of the Hawaiian Islands. Lanai was first spotted by Europeans just a few days after Captain Cook was killed on the Big Island of Hawaii in 1779. In 1922, the Hawaiian Pineapple Company bought the whole island of Lanai and turned most of it into the world’s largest pineapple plantation. Since then, Lanai has been known as “The Pineapple Island”. Today, 98% of the island is owned by Larry Ellison, the CEO of Oracle, and 2% is owned by the State of Hawaii.

24 Inscrutable sorts : ENIGMAS

Our term “enigma” meaning “puzzle, riddle” comes from the Greek “ainigma”, which means the same thing.

29 Initialism that precedes “+” : LGBTQIA

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, asexual and others (LGBTQIA+)

33 It has an alumni magazine called Shipmate, in brief : USNA

The United States Naval Academy (USNA) is located in Annapolis, Maryland. It was founded in 1845 and educates officers for both the US Navy and the US Marine Corps. The motto of the USNA is “Ex Scientia Tridens”, which translates as “From Knowledge, Sea Power”.

35 Pennsylvanie, e.g. : ETAT

In French, one “état” (state) in the US is “Pennsylvanie” (Pennsylvania).

36 Frequent Missy Elliott collaborator : CIARA

Ciara is a singer-songwriter from Austin, Texas. She used to date rapper Bow Wow, but married Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson in 2016.

Melissa “Missy” Elliott is a rap artist who was childhood friends with fellow rapper Timbaland.

37 “Citizen ___” (2021 documentary about a tennis icon) : ASHE

Arthur Ashe was a professional tennis player from Richmond, Virginia. In his youth, Ashe found himself having to travel great distances to play against Caucasian opponents due to the segregation that still existed in his home state. He was rewarded for his dedication by being selected for the 1963 US Davis Cup team, the first African-American player to be so honored. Ashe continued to run into trouble because of his ethnicity though, and in 1968 was denied entry into South Africa to play in the South African Open. In 1979, Ashe suffered a heart attack and had bypass surgery, with follow-up surgery four years later during which he contracted HIV from blood transfusions. Ashe passed away in 1993 due to complications from AIDS. Shortly afterwards, Ashe was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton.

39 Code inits. : HTML

The initialism “HTML” stands for HyperText Markup Language. HTML is the language used to write most Internet web pages (including this one).

43 Once, for one : NUMERO

In Spanish, “once” (eleven) is a “numero” (number).

44 Business name abbr. : LLC

A limited liability company (LLC) has a structure that limits the liability of the owner or owners. It is a hybrid structure in the sense that it can be taxed as would an individual or partnership, while also maintaining the liability protection afforded to a corporation.

50 Acrobat displays : PDFS

Adobe Acrobat is the software used to create .pdf files. Most of us are more familiar with the associated application called Adobe Reader, because that’s what we use to read those .pdf files.

58 Bitter green : CRESS

Garden cress is a leafy vegetable that is closely related to watercress and mustard. Cress is particularly popular in the UK where it is a common ingredient in sandwiches. It has a very pleasant peppery taste.

59 In the buff : AU NATUREL

“Au naturel” is a French phrase, one simply meaning “in a natural state”. We use the term in English in the same sense, and also to mean “nude”.

60 Weight : HEFT

The heft of something is its weight, its heaviness. The term “heft” is derivative of the verb “to heave” meaning “to lift, raise”.

62 Demo for many parents of Alphas : GEN-Y

The Millennial Generation are sometimes referred to as “Generation Y” (Gen-Y). Millennials were born after the “Gen-Xers”, from the early 1980s to the early 2000s.

“Generation Alpha” is a term used to describe those born in the years between the mid-2010s and mid-2020s.

Down

2 ___ Sports (hit video game) : WII

Players of the Wii Sports video game can simulate five sports: tennis, baseball, bowling, golf and boxing.

6 Indian fried bread : POORI

Puri (also “poori”) is a deep-fried, unleavened bread from Indian cuisine.

14 Go-getters, often : TYPE-AS

The Type-A and Type-B personality theory originated in the fifties. Back then, individuals were labeled as Type A in order to emphasize a perceived increased risk of heart disease. Type-A personality types are so-called “stress junkies”, whereas Type Bs are relaxed and laid back. But there doesn’t seem to be much scientific evidence to support the linkage between the Type-A personality and heart problems.

15 So-called “explosion shot” from a sand trap : BLAST

Sand traps on a golf course are referred to as bunkers on the other side of the Atlantic.

20 Big name in hummus : SABRA

Sabra Dipping is a company that specializes in the production of hummus and guacamole. If I can’t get homemade hummus or guacamole, then Sabra is the way to go …

21 Cleared up after waiting, perhaps : BUSED

A busboy is a person who assists a waiter, mainly by clearing tables. The verb “to bus” arose in the early 1900s and is probably a reference to the wheeled cart that was used to carry dishes.

23 What often carries a U.S.D.A. seal : ORGANIC BEEF

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) classifies meat into eight different grades:

• Prime
• Choice
• Select
• Standard
• Commercial
• Utility
• Cutter
• Canner

40 Self-serving arrangement? : BUFFET

Our word “buffet” comes from the French “bufet” meaning “bench, sideboard”. So, a buffet is a meal served from a “bufet”.

54 Cannes “confirm”? : OUI

Cannes is a city on the French Riviera that is noted as host of the Cannes Film Festival. The decision to host an annual film festival was adopted by the city just before WWII. However, the festival had to wait for the end of the war for its launch in 1946.